HTC Desire V review: A simple wish

Unboxing the Desire V

The HTC Desire V retail package is a pretty standard affair - you get a charger, a USB cable and a basic headset. The Beats Audio label at the back refers to software enhancements.

The retail package

There is no memory card included, but you could say HTC already covered that with the 4 gigs of internal storage.

HTC Desire V 360-degree view

The HTC Desire V has almost the same measurements as the original Desire, it's just a tad thinner. At 118.5 x 62.3 x 9.3 mm, the Desire V will easily slip into pockets and allow comfortable single-handed use. Entirely made of plastic, it weighs 114 grams.

Design and build quality

The front of the HTC Desire V looks much like the Desire C we met with a while ago. The styling is simple and to-the-point. The most notable difference is height - the dual-SIM Desire V is taller in order to accommodate the bigger 4" screen.

The front of HTC Desire V

Above the screen we find a small earpiece. The proximity and ambient light sensors are well hidden in the screen bezel nearby. Unfortunately the Desire V omits a front-facing camera and a status LED.

The earpiece and a couple of sensors

Below the screen is the usual layout of Back, Home and Task Switcher capacitive keys. Their icons are painted white and light up with a tap on the screen. They offer haptic feedback too.

Capacitive Back, Home and Multitasking keys

The left side accommodates the microUSB port for charging and computer connections.

The microUSB port on the left

On the right we find the long and thin volume rocker. You can take screenshots by holding the Volume down and Power key.

Volume rocker on the right

There's a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top and a power/lock button. The latter is centrally placed right above the earpiece and the unusual position may be something to get used to.

The 3.5mm audio jack and power/lock key on the top

The bottom of the device features only the mouthpiece.

The bottom of the Desire V

The battery cover of the Desire V has a rubbery feel to it and is virtually fingerprint-proof. It feels nice to touch and offers excellent grip. The 5MP auto-focus camera lens and the single LED flash share a finely grooved metal plate in the top left corner. It's the only thing that spoils the overall impression, being completely at odds with the surrounding surface.

The grippy back cover

Below the HTC logo is the loudspeaker grille, with the Beats Audio logo at the very bottom. The battery cover is somewhat hard to remove, but the upside is it fits firmly in place and gives the handset its solid feel. The two SIM compartments are unobstructed by the battery and the micro SD slot is hot-swappable.

A peek under the battery cover

We put the Desire V through our battery test and found it to be quite good. It can last over 45 hours on a single charge. If you decide to drain the battery with calls only, it will take you 8 hours and 20 minutes (on a 3G network). Doing the same with web browsing takes 5 hours and 44 minutes or you can watch 6 hours and 26 minutes of video. You can learn more about our testing procedure over here.